The Wash. Times' Obama-Muslim picture book

The recent Pew poll finding that nearly one in five Americans hold the false belief Obama is Muslim also revealed that "60% of those who say Obama is a Muslim cite the media" as their source. We noted yesterday that conservative media outlets from print, radio and cable TV have routinely questioned Obama's Christian faith or suggested that he is Muslim -- a claim which, in our unfortunate discourse, has become a smear.

One of the media outlets pushing this misconception is the Washington Times, whose Jeffrey Kuhner famously published the false claim that Obama attended a madrassa as a child. The Times has even utilized images to deliver the message to readers at a glance. For instance:

In a July 8 Washington Timescolumn, Jeffrey Kuhner wrote that "Culturally, [Obama] is America's first Muslim president." The following illustration accompanies the piece:

In an August 16 Washington Timesanalysis, Wesley Pruden speculated that Obama publicly addressed the controversy surrounding the Islamic community center in New York because "he just can't resist throwing (non-alcoholic) wine and roses at Muslims and rotten eggs at Americans who cling to the Judeo-Christian God and guns." The following photo of Obama dressed in clothing worn by nomadic people in Somalia accompanies the piece:

(The photo was reportedly taken during Obama's 2006 trip to Africa and pushed by the Drudge Report during the presidential primary. According to the head of the BBC's Somali service, the clothing has "no religious significance to it whatsoever.")

In an August 17 Washington Timescolumn, Frank Gaffney wrote: "As he hosted the Ramadan fast-breaking dinner at the White House on Friday, Mr. Obama showed his true colors on Shariah. ... Shariah is about power, not faith, and no amount of Obama subsidies, solidarity or spin on behalf of that agenda will persuade the American people to allow the so-called "tradition of Islam" to supplant our civil liberties, form of government and way of life." The following illustration accompanies the piece:

In an August 19 Washington Timescolumn, Kuhner wrote that Obama is "a cultural Muslim who is promoting an anti-American, pro-Islamic agenda." The following illustration accompanies the piece:

In an August 19 Washington Times column, Robert Knight wrote: "The proposed Manhattan mosque is a keg o' dynamite. It has blown up apathetic Americans' benign illusions about Mr. Obama: 'They're going to build what? Where? And he's OK with that?'" Knight also quoted and criticized Obama's statement that "Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America." The following illustration accompanies the piece:

The caption under the illustration states: "Obama's Crescent House"

The Washington Timesalsotried this tack against Obama's second Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, who Gaffney accused of "Courting Shariah."

Media figures quickly debunked President Trump’s “vicious, racist” myth that General John Pershing prevented terrorism for decades by allegedly ordered Muslim insurgents in the Philippines to be shot with bullets dipped in pig’s blood.

The white supremacist rally this past weekend in Charlottesville, VA, which began on the campus of the University of Virginia, has raised concerns about similar activities happening at other colleges. Higher education media report college officials are growing concerned as white nationalist groups seek to hold similar events on more campuses throughout the U.S. These attempts represent an escalation of an ongoing right-wing assault on colleges.